The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to an automatic hold-down pallet for loading of garments and other textiles for printing in a textile printing machine.
Textile printing is widely practiced, and applied to everything from rolls of fabric to already made garments. Pallets are generally used for loading ready made garments, and the requirements for a pallet are that the garment may be loaded quickly and held taut so as to allow the printing to be effective. The pallet carries the garment into the printing area and holds it firmly for printing.
The printing itself most commonly involves screen printing or ink jet printing techniques, as well as pre-processing to prepare the textile surfaces for effective printing and post processing which is typically to cure the ink.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art printing machine with a pallet for loading. In general, a pallet consists of a board, which may be square or rectangular, or may be specifically shaped for the garment, and a frame that surrounds the board. The frame is opened, the garment is inserted tightly and the frame is closed. Following closing of the frame, the pallet enters the printing area.
The frame may surround the entire board and the open frame allows for easy placement of the garment on the board. When closed the sides of the frame contact the board and if a garment is present then the sides of the frame press the garment directly against the board to hold the garment firmly in place. As long as the garment is correctly placed, the lowering of the frame may allow the frame to press on the edges of the board and hold the garment firmly for printing, thus providing the operator with a simple action for mounting the garment which can be performed quickly.
Often two pallets are provided side by side, so that the operator can load one pallet while the other pallet is being printed, thus making the operation more efficient, but also being more demanding on the operator.